Toddler computer remote

[Killerdark] has built a simple remote for his toddler to control videos on a PC. He gutted a USB number pad, built a new enclosure with the necessary buttons clearly labeled, and mapped the buttons in software. He could have possibly done better with larger color coded buttons, but really, it seems to work well as is. This reminds us of the giant iPod remote from back in 2006. Good job [Killerdark]

Ha. I was thinking the exact same thing. Or you could use a chord that would break away… similar to the original xbox controllers. Wireless would be best though. None the less, good concept. You could do a lot more with this while using the Autohotkey program and language to run various scripts.

The key to integrating technology is to make sure they have plenty of creative interactivity, not just vegging out in front of a TV. The kids should play with the computer like they do with Legos, crayons, and playdoh. And don’t skip out on the social interaction either. Make sure to invite the neighbor’s kids over to play often.

Agree with Tom. I also have a toddler and we spend quality time out walking, playing, drawing, singing, with nature and spending fabulous time together with me and mom… sad some others have to ‘plug’ their kids to the TV-nanny or waste their brains watching TV… good luck!

@ph Sorry you don’t see the positive critisism here. The critisism here is that the parent shouldn’t give the toddler more tools to spend in front of the TV. And clearly the parent could have spent more one on one time with this toddler, rather than tinkering how to build a toy to plug the kid to the TV. But we may be missing the point here: the gadget is cool.

@sansan, i did see the critisism, I just didn’t find it very constructive towards the source material. I agree that the tv is not a suitable babysitter and many of the other statements that were made.
What i disagree with is the rain of comments talking down on the poster as if he is a bad parent. how do you know that he isn’t home with his kid while his wife is working and finished this project while the kid was sleeping?

he just wanted to share the project and i think that hackaday is a very suitable place to do just that.

@ph and general: my wife and i we both work 50% so we both can spend time with our kid. I work from home, too, and I am a total geek. my point here is that regardless of the parenting skill we don’t think that kids should spend time watching and playing games on tv. instead, learn through knowing life, outside from a surreal tv world. the gadget itself may be cool, however, its purpose is not (to lock the kid to the tv), and this is what i argue. enough runt. btw: this remind me of the recent article on how to operate something using the cell phone ringer. that project was so grilled because the potential use of it. same here. ok, back to take care of my toddler. :)

i like this hack. i think it shows that you can create a unique interface with a small budget.
although,if you want to create a gamepad or joystick, this is not a good solution.

@sansan, in my professional life, i work with devices and systems that are controlled by the cellphone system. sending settings and commands,receiving data.
using cellphones to operate equipment is not connected to anything bad most of the time.